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Feds Announce Review of Memphis Police

A new partnership between the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to be announced Wednesday.

The MPD has been under review by the DOJ for the use of deadly force and community-oriented policing, according to officials at Memphis City Hall. Federal officials will announce their findings in a news conference Wednesday.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and MPD director Michael Rallings invited the DOJ's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to Memphis "for a collaborative review of both community-oriented policing and the use of deadly force," said Strickland spokesman Ursula Madden.

"We haven't yet signed an agreement, but we do expect a formal announcement in partnership with the DOJ tomorrow," Madden said.

Noble Wray, the DOJ’s Policing Practices and Accountability Initiative Chief in the COPS office, is slated to speak. Wray’s office is responsible for “advancing community policing nationwide,” according to the news release.

“Since 1995, the COPS office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 127,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance,” according to the COPS office.

Also, slated to speak are Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis Mayor Jim Edward L. Stanton III, and MPD director Michael Rawlings.